Bird's nest market: Difficult to distinguish real from fake
Bird's nest has long been considered a rare and expensive food, so only wealthy and willing families have the need to access this food. If a few years ago, anyone in need had to send acquaintances to Nha Trang, Dong Nai, now in Thanh Vinh there have appeared "genuine", "100% real", "pure" bird's nest shops. However, the quality and price of current bird's nests are still difficult to distinguish between real and fake, cheap and expensive.
(Baonghean.vn) -Bird's nest has long been considered a rare and expensive food, so only wealthy and willing families have the need to access this food. If a few years ago, anyone in need had to send acquaintances to Nha Trang, Dong Nai, now in Thanh Vinh there have appeared "genuine", "100% real", "pure" bird's nest shops. However, the quality and price of current bird's nests are still difficult to distinguish between real and fake, cheap and expensive.
Following the signs on Nguyen Duc Canh Street, I found the Pure Bird’s Nest store. Inside, I couldn’t see any display items. After calling for a long time, an elderly man stuck his head out and said loudly: “Are you buying bird’s nest? Are you buying bird’s nest or loose bird’s nest? Are you buying real bird’s nest so I can get it?”
Going up to the second floor of the kitchen of the two-story house, the shop owner said: "This bird's nest is raised by my daughter in Can Gio, 100% genuine, and several dozen percent cheaper than other places" and showed many boxes of pre-packaged bird's nests with a common price of 3,000,000 VND/100 grams. According to the owner, this is the type of bird's nest with the nest intact, to be used, you have to soak, wash and remove all the feathers. There is another type that has been cleaned, put in the freezer and costs 3,500,000 VND/100 grams.
Seeing that this type of bird's nest does not have a nest mold like other places, I was worried, the owner said: "If you want to make a nest like the pure type, you have to put it in a mold, but my daughter has not sent that mold yet". When I asked if she had blood nests, the owner said that it was just a scam, "There is no such thing as bright red blood nests like on the advertising websites, people dye them and if the bird's nests have been cleaned, they should be ivory white and have a fishy smell. If they are pure white and have a strong fishy smell, then bleach must have been used".
Wondering why the bird's nest box was roughly packaged and had no barcode, I made an excuse that I needed to learn more and said, "Please keep it for me, I'll come back next time." The owner also said: I don't display the products here, but I've sold a lot and most of the people who bought it often come back, some even buy it abroad, "You should go check the price here, it's both cheap and high quality."
The owner introduces the product at his home on Nguyen Duc Canh Street.
Following a friend's advice, I went to the Nha Trang bird's nest stall on Nguyen Sy Sach Street. Here, there are many types of bird's nests with very different prices, from 3,600,000 VND for white bird's nests to 8,600,000 VND for blood bird's nests, which, according to the seller, are made from the blood of swiftlets. The shop owner said that this is a type of bird's nest made from the saliva of wild swiftlets that her company called to nest on the silkworm island, so you can rest assured that it is completely natural. She also advised that if you soak the bird's nest in water to clean it, the real bird's nest will not change color, and the bird's nest fibers will expand evenly. If it is a fake bird's nest, it will usually dissolve in water and have an unpleasant fishy smell. If it is a fake blood bird's nest, it will often change color.
And she said that every week she can sell 5-6 taels of white bird's nest and 2-3 taels of blood bird's nest. On the advertisement of the Nha Trang bird's nest box here, it is written: Bird's nest is a nutritious food that was often used for kings in the past, has up to 40-50% protein, very low fat content of only 0.00-0.13%, many essential amino acids are only found in bird's nest. Suitable for the elderly, people with serious illnesses, postpartum women and malnourished children with rickets.
In addition to private establishments, in Vinh city, bird's nests are also sold at Big C supermarket. However, at the booth here, there are only about 10 pre-packaged bird's nest boxes priced from 3,500,000 - 7,000,000 VND and the seller also has very little information about bird's nests to promote the product. It is only to beautify the skin, increase longevity, help restore health... When asked about the process of calling swiftlets to make nests and how to collect the nests and preserve them to create canned products, the owner just shook his head: "We are just selling goods, you ask so carefully how would I know?"
A female customer standing next to her asked: "So if I buy it and find that the quality is not guaranteed, can I return it?" and received a shake of the head from the owner. At this stall, there are also instant bird's nest products packaged in glass boxes, and put into large paper boxes, each paper box has 12 jars. This is a product used as a gift and is advertised to have nutritional value equivalent to bird's nest, priced at 990,000 VND/box.
Bird's nest is sold at Big C supermarket.
There is currently no scientific document proving the miraculous nutritional ingredients in bird's nest as rumored, but because of psychology, many people still look for real bird's nest to buy. Whether the bird's nest shops of companies located in Vinh City are as reliable as advertised or not, only the bird's nest producers know because according to the owner of the shop on Nguyen Sinh Sac Street, the authorities have not yet taken samples for testing. Consumers should research carefully before buying the product because this is a special food and the price is therefore very... special.
Thanh Nga
